William Clark Green's "Rose Queen" Pricks One of Tyler's Sacred Cows

Shortly after recording his album Misunderstood, Texas singer-songwriter William Clark Green discussed the idea of tackling a song about Tyler's Texas Rose Festival. The idea became the basis for the title track to his latest album, Rose Queen.

"It was one of the easiest songs to ever come together," Green says.

Every October, the community of Tyler congregates along the town's streets to watch the Rose Queen and her court roll by on a float. The parade is one of the biggest attractions of Tyler's Texas Rose Festival.

"The Tyler Rose Festival is something my family has been familiar with," Green says. "Growing up, my dad said, 'Don't go dating a rose queen because you can't afford her.' The rose festival is a ritzy thing, you know, with country-clubbers and poor people are not invited to come. Not that we grew up poor, but we just didn't do that stuff."

And while Green's title track does take a poke at the well-to-doers of Tyler, it has actually been received quite well.

"It seems like it's been received pretty well," Green says. "It's doggin' the Rose Festival a little bit, but it's not meant to be malicious. It's just a fun song and it was well received in Tyler and I was happy to see that. That was not my intention at all."

And for those who might take offense? Well, they have to just realize that it's art.
"I don't even give a shit about that," Green says. "It doesn't matter what you do in this life, it doesn't matter if you're a musician or whatever, there's going to be somebody who isn't going to be happy with what you're doing. You just do the best you can and as long as you're happy, that's what's important."

Staying true to his vision has consistently landed Green on the charts thus far. While "Rose Queen" has yet to be released as a single, his other singles from Rose Queen have received a great deal of spin. The first single from the album, "It's About Time," landed in the Top 10 of the Texas Music Chart, and the next, "She Likes The Beatles," cracked the Top 5.

"The goal is to really hit Top 20 and the unreachable goal is Top 10, and we got it," Green says. "The single we have out now made the Top 5 and that was our goal for it, and we are pretty stoked about it. That's been really cool."

William Clark Green opens for the Randy Rogers Band Friday at Mo's Place, 21940 Kingsland Blvd., Katy. Showtime is around 9 p.m.